1. DDR3 (I know you did not mention it as what you would do, but here it goes). From what I have read ddr2 vs ddr3 on PHII processors = single digit % improvements

2. 4gb vs 8gb same speed. If you are not using all your ram now then double the quantity will do nothing. Open up task manager and the most memory demanding programs you would have open and running at the same time (don't make it unrealistic) and check how much of your 4gb of ram is being used. My guess is you won't be over around 3gb unless you use some ram intensive programs. If that is the case it is a waste of money to buy more ram. If it is very near to maxing out your 4gb ram than you can consider grabbing some more.

3. CPU upgrade. Honestly the jump from 940 to 955/965 is pointless (since you have already OC to take the stock frequency out of the picture) and you are not planning on making the jump to ddr3. Going to a 1090/1100 would likely see some improvements in heavily threaded applications and games, but those are fairly few and far between for more than 4 cores. In gaming, x6 don't seem to add much at all and in some games seem to have slightly worse performance than the x4.

4. What to do? IMO do nothing. You have stated already that you are not having any problems with games etc right now. If you are not having problems then do nothing. When your computer is no longer doing what you need it to do, then it is time to upgrade (by the time that happens better processors etc will be available at the same price point).

1. DDR3 (I know you did not mention it as what you would do, but here it goes). From what I have read ddr2 vs ddr3 on PHII processors = single digit % improvements

2. 4gb vs 8gb same speed. If you are not using all your ram now then double the quantity will do nothing. Open up task manager and the most memory demanding programs you would have open and running at the same time (don't make it unrealistic) and check how much of your 4gb of ram is being used. My guess is you won't be over around 3gb unless you use some ram intensive programs. If that is the case it is a waste of money to buy more ram. If it is very near to maxing out your 4gb ram than you can consider grabbing some more.

3. CPU upgrade. Honestly the jump from 940 to 955/965 is pointless (since you have already OC to take the stock frequency out of the picture) and you are not planning on making the jump to ddr3. Going to a 1090/1100 would likely see some improvements in heavily threaded applications and games, but those are fairly few and far between for more than 4 cores. In gaming, x6 don't seem to add much at all and in some games seem to have slightly worse performance than the x4.

4. What to do? IMO do nothing. You have stated already that you are not having any problems with games etc right now. If you are not having problems then do nothing. When your computer is no longer doing what you need it to do, then it is time to upgrade (by the time that happens better processors etc will be available at the same price point).

Wow! Great post.

1. I agree 100% here. Same story was found with the move from DDR to DDR2 back in the Athlon64 days.

2. I found that some games chew up over 3gb's no problem, with about 2gb's or more on pagefile. I think the ram I have (OCZ Reaper DDR2-1066) is kind of hard to come by. I might buy up the other kit I found while I still can.

3. I agree here as well. Jumping from an OC'd X4 to a "faster" X4, even if it's with another mobo and DDR3 is huge waste of coin. I think games with intense physics will benefit from an upgrade to X6. But no one here has ever said yay or nay yet that I know of. I think I may wait for a used 1100T to come up for sale. Lots of people who have AM3+ mobos are likely going to jump to Bulldozer after it's launched, and in turn sell off their current CPUs.

4. Well, fall is here. New games are coming. Unfortunately like most others around here I too have the disease known as "upgraditis". The big problem is having mortgage, vehicle payments, a wife and two kids to feed, AND basement reno plans (a.k.a. - big ol' play room!! ) ..... otherwise I'd ditch the whole rig and start from scratch.

I think you could make that upgrade for $400 (excluding taxes & shipping) if you skimp on the mobo.

Something to think about

True, but I've skimped on the backbone of my PC once before and I still regret it. I bought a cheap Athlon X2 5000 BE AM2+, some DDR2-800 GSkill RAM, and a Gigabyte 790X crossfire board that had no mosfet cooling. The mobo ran great with no problems running dual 3870's at the time. I thought my system was pretty decent. But then Phenom X4's were launch and I dove in for a 125W 9950 BE and it cooked the board. I was sooooo pissed. I did some research and I wasn't alone, lots of people had the same issue..... blown mosfet(s). That's when I went big and bought the Asus M3A79-T Deluxe I'm running now. Since then I bought this PII 940 when it was launched and went through a few video card upgrades. This mobo was about $250 to $300 when I got it. I know it's lacking in a few areas compared to new ones today but it's a good chunk of change to disregard considering it replaced a $150 board that didn't last too long.

So that's pretty much the biggest reason why I want to ride the life out my current motherboard.